December 03, 2007

New Roads Await

"Don't feel sorry for yourself if you have chosen the wrong road--turn around!"--Edgar Cayce

I know many people who could stand to hear--and take to heart--this piece of advice. Many people seem to find themselves "stuck" in certain places, jobs, or situations, and they don't realize that all that's necessary for them to change their situations is to make a decision and either turn around and go back and find the right road, or simply to start out on another road that looks positive to them.

It's easy for us to feel sorry for ourselves, though. After all, when something goes wrong, we want others to know that something's wrong, that we're deserving of other people's sympathy or pity. But this type of approach does absolutely nothing to change or help our situations; it merely shows a negative reaction to what's going on in our lives.

A positive reaction, though, is one that puts us on the road to make a change when we feel that a change is due. There are times in our lives when things just aren't working; at those times, it's important that we make decisions that put us on the road to improvement, not that keep us on the barren road of self-pity.

We all choose wrong roads now and then, no matter how good or how honorable our intentions. What helps to determine our character and the quality of our lives, though, is not necessarily the road we choose, but what we decide to do once we find out that we're on a wrong road. In those decisions we'll see our lives being constructed, refined, and improved...

"When you find yourself overpowered, as it were, by melancholy, the best way is to go out and do something."--John Keble